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Section 1

War EruptsThe secession of the Southern states quickly lead to armed conflict between the North and the South.

First Shots at Fort Sumter

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War Erupts

• Federal troops hold Fort Sumter, harbor of Charleston, South Carolina

• Abraham Lincoln decides to send supply ships to Fort Sumter

• Southern states take over most federal forts within their borders

• Confederates attack fort before supplies arrive, start Civil War

• U.S. troops defend fort for 34 hours, then surrender

Confederate battery at Fort Moultrie firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12–13, 1861. Lithograph, Currier & Ives.

Lincoln Calls Out the Militia

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• President Lincoln asks states for militiamen to put down uprising

• Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas join Confederacy

• In the upper South, state leaders refuse request

• Volunteers rush to enlist in both North and South

• Confederate capital is moved to Richmond, Virginia (May, 1861)

• Robert E. Lee becomes commanding general of Northern Virginia Portrait of Robert E. Lee.

Choosing Sides

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• Border states—slave states that border states in which slavery illegal

• Maryland stays in Union, keeps Washington D.C. within the Union

• Include Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri

• Western counties, Virginia break away, form Union state, West Virginia

• Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware stay in Union

• 24 states make up the Union, 11 states join the Confederacy

Strengths and Weaknesses

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• North has 22 million people, South has 9 million people

• North has more railroad mileage, all the naval power, shipyards

• 85 percent of nation’s factories located in the North

• Union has great leader, President Abraham Lincoln

Map

Continued . . .

Continued Strengths and Weaknesses

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• Confederacy has able generals

• Confederates defending homes, have more will to fight than invaders

• Union supply lines will have to stretch far to invade the South

The Confederate Strategy

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• Confederacy takes defensive position, does not want to conquer North

• Hopes to force Britain, France to aid the Confederates

• Uses King Cotton to win foreign support, withholds cotton exports

• Europeans have cotton surplus, don’t want to get involved

• South becomes offensive, tries for big victories to demoralize North

The Union Strategy

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• North develops offensive strategy • General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan—

smother the South’s economy • Use naval blockade of South’s coastline • Blockade— armed forces stop goods, people

into or out of an area • Gain control of the Mississippi River, split

Confederacy in two • Scott’s plan takes time, Lincoln decides to

invade Virginia (1861)

Battle of Bull Run

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• Confederates defeat Union troops at First Battle of Bull Run (1861)

• Victory thrills South, North has underestimated their opponent

• Lincoln sends militia home, calls for real army of 500,000 volunteers

Battle of Bull Run VA, July 21st, 1861. Engraving (1861), Currier & Ives.

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Section 2

Life in the Army Both Union and Confederate soldiers endure many hardships serving in the army during the Civil War.

Those Who Fought

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• Most Civil War soldiers are between 18 and 30 years of age

• Some immigrants serve, most are from Germany, Ireland

• Most soldiers are farmers, majority are born in U.S.

• African Americans want to fight, not accepted in North, South armies

• Later, North accepts African Americans into its ranks

Life in the Army

Continued . . .

Confederate volunteers posing for a Richmond photographer before

the Battle of First Bull Run in 1861.

Continued Those Who Fought

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• Most Civil War soldiers are volunteers, they volunteer to:- escape boredom of factory, farm work- join friends, neighbors- seek adventure, glory- get recruitment money- show loyalty to country, state

Turning Civilians into Soldiers

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• After enlisting, a soldier is sent to training camp, usually lives in tent

• Follows training schedule, gets uniform, clothing often poor quality

• At camp, soldiers get plenty of food; in the field, get limited food

The 36th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment drilling at their winter quarters near Langley, Virginia (c. 1861).

Hardships of Army Life

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• Civil War soldiers in field, often wet, cold, live in crude shelters

• Causes widespread sicknesses

• Results in poor hygiene—conditions, practices that promote health

• Camps are unsanitary, soldiers often go for weeks without bathing

Image

A sick soldier sitting near shelters during the Civil War around 1863.

Changes in Military Technology

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• Weapons improve, results in:- higher casualty rate- battle tactics change

• Use rifles—guns with grooved barrel, cause bullets to spin

• Minié ball—bullet with hollow base • Rifles using minié balls shoot farther, more

accurately than muskets

Continued . . .

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• Ironclads—warships covered with iron, better than wooden warships

• First ironclad battle off coast of Virginia (1862) includes:- Confederate Virginia (Merrimack)- Union Monitor

Continued Changes in Military Technology

• After about four hours, battle ends in a draw

Naval duel between the Union Monitor and the Confederate Merrimack (or Virginia) on March 9, 1862.

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Section 3

No End in Sight In the first two years of the war, neither side gains a decisive victory over the other.

Union Victories in the West

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• Ulysses S. Grant, Union general in the West

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• Grant’s forces capture two Confederate river forts in Tennessee

• Residents of Nashville flee, Union troops march into Nashville (1862)

No End in Sight

Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant.

The Battle of Shiloh

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• Union army fights Confederate army at Battle of Shiloh (1862)

• Confederate commanding general Albert S. Johnston is killed

• Union troops are lead by Ulysses S. Grant

• Fresh Union troops arrive, South retreats • 13,000 Union soldiers are killed, 11,000

Confederates are killed

Interactive

The Fall of New Orleans

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• Admiral David Farragut, Union fleet capture New Orleans

• Confederates control stretch of river near their fort at Vicksburg

• Union controls most of the Mississippi River

Lee Claims Victories in the East

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• General George McClellan, Union troops attempt to capture Richmond

• Report size of Union army, Robert E. Lee’s army attacks Union army

• Confederate Jeb Stuart, cavalry (soldiers on horseback) spy McClellan

• Both sides clash for a week

• Lee ends the Union threat in Virginia

• Confederates defeat Union army at Seven Days’ Battles (1862)

J. E. B. Stuart leading a raid around General George McClellan’s army (June 1862).

Lee Invades the North

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• General Lee, troops invade Maryland (September 1862)

• Several reasons for taking war to the North: - hopes victory in North will force President Lincoln to talk peace- gives Virginia farmers a rest from war during harvest- Confederates could plunder Northern

farmers for food- hopes invasion will convince Britain, France to aid Confederacy

Bloody Antietam

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• General McClellan’s army fights Lee’s army, Battle of Antietam (1862)

• Lee’s crippled army retreats into Virginia, McClellan fails to pursue

• After 1 day, neither side gains ground, 25,000 men are killed, wounded

• President Lincoln fires McClellan

Battle of Antietam in Maryland on September 17, 1862. Depiction (1888), Kurz & Allison.